Game 33

​CHI 117               MIL 106

Prologue
Sometimes sharing is hard,
Said the five year old boy
When asked
What he learned in school that day.

---

I used to work in restaurants--
First because I didn’t know what I wanted
And then because I did.

And not a pretty girl,
I had to work my ass off
To make money.

So I worked my ass off.

I worked at this one spot--

Kind of a cultural hub
Of the city.

A few of the waitresses--
Friends of mine--
Had bought the place
From the previous owner.

They had basically blackmailed
Him into selling
Out of spite--
And then hired a bunch of their friends.

Like me.

This place was packed,
And we all made a ton of money.
But we didn’t all
Work our asses off.

And we shared tips.

I learned to resent these waitresses-turned-owners--

Sitting out back after the rush,
Smoking weed,
Talking about which Styrofoam cups to order
Or whatever.

Calling it working.

We all learned to resent them.

And when they would come back in--
After the rest of us
Had shut down
Their restaurant--
And claim their equal share of the tips,
I always wanted to say something.

Call bullshit.

But I didn’t.

Instead
I tried to lead by example.

I worked harder.
I became more efficient.

And then I found a different job
Where we didn’t share tips.